


Faust Would Understand

by astudyinfic



Series: Let's Make a Deal [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Faustian Bargain, Happy Ending, M/M, Prince of Hell Magnus Bane, Really is fluffy, Shadowhunter Alec Lightwood, even if someone dies at the end, please trust me, that's not sarcastic btw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 15:10:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13615986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astudyinfic/pseuds/astudyinfic
Summary: To save his sister's life, Alec Lightwood would do anything.  Even make a deal with the devil.Or the devil's nephew, in this case.





	Faust Would Understand

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Janusa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Janusa/gifts).



> Many thanks to atraeris for betaing this for me.

No.  No.  This couldn’t be happening.  Alec screamed for Jace to go back to the Institute, to get someone, _anyone_ to help them.  The iratze wasn’t working and some of the light was fading from his sister’s eyes.  “It’s okay, big brother,” she said, smiling sadly up at him.  “We all knew this would happen eventually.  I’m glad it’s me.  I couldn’t live without you.”

Tears were streaming from his eyes and Alec shook his head, “No, Izzy.  Don’t give up.  Jace will be back in a few minutes.”  No doubt Jace was pushing the limits of the speed and stamina runes to get back to the Healers who were their only hope to stop the venom from taking their sister before her time.  “You’ll be good as new and I’ll even let you buy me something nice to wear.  Your idea of nice, not mine.”

Izzy laughed though it quickly dissolved into a cough, “Do it anyway.  When I’m gone, promise me, Alec.  Take care of yourself.”  

Alec wanted to argue but her eyes fell closed and Alec panicked.  “No!” he cried out, shaking Izzy lightly to get her to wake.  “Please, please, please don’t take my sister.  Take me instead.  I’ll give anything,” he muttered, again and again, trying to bring Izzy back to him.

“The price is your soul,” came a smooth voice and Alec looked up to see the most beautiful man he’d ever seen.  For a moment, he thought the man was an angel, here to save his sister’s life.  But then he saw the glowing cat eyes and he knew- demon.  “I can save her for the small price of your soul.”

“Deal,” Alec agreed without thought.  It didn’t matter.  His own life was nothing without Izzy and Jace in it.  “Take my soul.  Just save Isabelle.”

A jolt of energy ran through him and Alec recognized the sensation of being struck, the powerful bargain falling into place.  Then the man dropped to his knees next to Izzy and got to work.  Cool, blue light appeared in his hands, the magic flowing over Isabelle as it knit her wounds back together, pulled the venom from her blood and pushed air back into her lungs.  

Izzy gasped sitting up and coughing.  Once certain she would be alright, Alec pulled her to his chest and held her tight.  “Thank the Angel,” he muttered, even as his eyes fell on the demon who actually saved her.  

The demon smiled fondly and reached out, running gentle fingers down Alec’s cheek.  If he didn’t know better, he would say the man was actually being tender with him.  “I’ll see you around, darling,” the demon smiled before vanishing before his eyes.

“What are you looking at, Alec?” Izzy asked, turning to stare towards the now empty opening to the alley.  “Was someone there?”

Alec swallowed heavily, understanding the significance of what he had done but not wanting to worry Izzy with it.  At least not right now.  “No, must have just been the light.  Come on, Iz.  Let’s get you to the infirmary, just to make sure everything is okay.”  Even though Alec knew without the Healers that Izzy was perfectly healthy, no sign of her injury whatsoever.  That was the deal, after all.  His soul for his sister’s life.  

It was a deal he would make every single time and never feel an ounce of guilt over it.

Isabelle, of course, had something else to say about that.  Once she was released from the infirmary where they kept muttering about her miraculous recovery, she’d cornered Alec in his office.  “What did you do, Alec?  No iratze could have healed me this well.  You did something and you need to tell me what.”

“It’s nothing.  I got you help and you are still here.  That is what matters, Iz.”  While he knew she wouldn’t drop it, Alec hoped, wishing she could just accept that he did something good for her.  

“What.  Did.  You.  Do?”  The words, clipped and cold, reminded Alec just why Isabelle Lightwood was the best fighter in the Institute.  She might be small but she was terrifying when she wanted to be and he never stood a chance against her.  “Alec, tell me what you did or I will tell everyone about Jessica Hawkblue.”

“There was no Jessica Hawkblue,” Alec muttered as realization set in.

Izzy grinned, “Exactly.  I’m sure everyone would love to know that the Head of the Institute had a fake girlfriend when he was a teenager.”

While Alec trusted his sister and felt reasonably confident that she wouldn’t actually blurt out his deepest secrets to the entire Institute, he didn’t want to risk it.  “Fine, just don’t tell anyone.  Jace and Mom would not take it well and Max doesn’t need to know, ever.”  Izzy wouldn’t take it well either but Alec owed her an explanation.  It was her life after all.  “I made a deal.  Your life for my soul.”  She opened her mouth to start arguing and he held up a finger.  “It’s done, Iz.  I don’t regret it and I would do it again in a heartbeat if necessary.  You can yell all you want but we both know you would have done the exact same thing if the situation was reversed.  So accept that I saved your life and let me worry about everything else.”

“Let you worry about it?” Izzy asked, wild-eyed and furious.  “You sold your soul to some demon just to save my life.  I would have been fine, Alec.  I would have met you all on the other side when you died as well.  We could have been together forever wherever good Shadowhunters go when we die.  But now, do you understand what you did?  You didn’t throw away your life, you threw away _eternity_.  Alec, please, you have to try and get out of it.  Even if the demon kills me.  You can’t possibly go through with this.”

“I can and I will.  Either respect my decision or get out.”  Alec hated upsetting her.  He didn’t want Izzy to be hurt or angry over anything he did, but he wouldn’t change this.  Not when it was her life or his.  It wasn’t even a question for him.  

Izzy glared at him for a moment longer before throwing herself into his arms.  “I love you, Alec.  I love you and I will never forgive you for this but thank you.  We will make the most of every moment we can and someday, we will get you out of this deal.”

Hugging her in return, he felt his sister’s tears on his shoulder just as his own burned in his eyes.  There wouldn’t be any getting out of this, but even if he had to spend an eternity in anguish, Alec knew it would be worth it.  Izzy was worth any amount of pain, even infinite pain.  “I love you, too, Iz.  I’m just glad you are here right now.”  That was what they had, the present and Alec would do everything he could to enjoy every moment of it before he was dragged kicking and screaming to the pit of hell he’d signed his soul away to.

“Which demon was it?” Izzy asked, and he could see her going into scientific mode.  “Maybe there is something in the archives about how to make and break deals with them.”

“I didn’t recognize him,” Alec admitted, “but if we pull up pictures, I know I would recognize him.”  Because he was the most beautiful man in the world, with captivating eyes and a kind smile, he added to himself.  If Alec didn’t know better, he would still think he was just a kind soul passing through.  The beautiful stranger didn’t seem cruel enough to be a demon.  

Izzy grinned, obviously happy for having a plan.  “Then let’s go look.”

In the Ops Center, they pulled up the database of all the known demons to make deals with mortals.  Most of them were easy enough to pass over.  Not many looked human enough to be the man and Alec began to give up hope.  “Alec, you said no to every single one of them.  You hardly even paused on any of them.  Are you sure we didn’t miss them?”

“I’m telling you, Izzy, he wasn’t there.  He had these golden eyes like those of a cat.  Not one of those demons had cat-eyes, so, therefore, none of them were him.”  He didn’t miss the way his sister paled and immediately went to a different part of the database, pulling up the files on Greater Demons.  

A couple more clicks and Alec felt his breath catch in his throat as he looked at the man again.  “Was it him?” Izzy asked, already knowing the answer.  “Alec!  Do you know what you did?  This isn’t some simple demon you made a deal with.  There’s no getting out of this.  You can’t break a deal with Hellish royalty.”

Alec heard what his sister was saying but couldn’t look away from the picture.  He was so beautiful, powerful and strong.  He blinked and looked over at the information to the side of the picture and silently cursed because Izzy was right.  There was no getting out of the deal.  Deals made by Greater Demons were unbreakable.

“Magnus Bane.  Prince of Edom, son of Asmodeus,” Izzy read.  “Well, I’ll give you this much, big brother, you certainly don’t do things by halves. And he’s gorgeous.  I guess if someone has to own your soul, it may as well be someone you don’t mind looking at while they are torturing you for eternity.”  She frowned, “He’s not known to have ever made a deal before.  I wonder why now?  Why did he answer you when any other demon would have worked?”  Alec didn’t bother to answer because he didn’t know either.  Besides, he was too busy looking at the one picture the Clave had of the demon-  Shirt open down to his navel, golden eyes glowing in the dim light where the picture was taken.  He was even more gorgeous than Alec remembered and he knew he was screwed.  Those eyes would haunt him at night, and not in the way demons were supposed to.

Alec Lightwood, pride, and joy of the Clave, had a crush on a prince of hell.  

Screwed didn’t even begin to cover it.

If Alec looked up Magnus from time to time after that, just to see if he’d made any other deals since then, no one needed to know about it.  He knew he should be trying to get out of the deal, not see if there were others, but for once in his life, Alec felt special.  Something about his situation brought the prince of Edom himself to his rescue and Alec wanted to know more.

But, slowly life began to return to normal.  Izzy’s miraculous recovery was quickly forgotten as most people assumed Isabelle Lightwood could fight death itself and come out on top. At first, whenever Alec thought about it, thought about the deal and the demon he’d made it with, he got hit with a combination of fear and anticipation and unease that would have Jace looking at him in concern.  Never before had the bond posed much of a problem, but now it was only Jace’s self-absorption that kept him from noticing just what happened to his brother.  

The first time he saw Magnus after they made the deal, it was in the mall of all places.  A routine demon attack, nothing the three of them couldn’t handle, though Alec had a close call that left his heart pounding for a brief second before jumping back into the fray. The moment the demon was sent back to hell, Izzy insisted on getting some shopping done.  Jace ran away quickly, citing paperwork as an excuse which only confirmed Alec’s suspicions about what Izzy had planned for him.  She took Alec’s hand, dragging him to a men’s wear store and he wondered if she might have planned this whole thing just to get him some new clothes.  

She wandered off to find a salesman, looking for something in Alec’s size.  Alec idly flipped through the racks of clothes, waiting for her return and doing his best not to look completely out of place.  “Alexander.”  The sound of his name purred in such a tone had Alec spinning on his heels almost immediately and finding himself face to face with Magnus himself.  “Doing a little shopping?”

“I, uh, um, yes?” came the articulate reply because of all the places he expected to see Magnus, in a mundane shopping mall wasn’t even on the list.  “You too?”  Couldn't the demon just take what he wanted or create it himself?  There wasn’t a lot of information in the Clave archives about Hellish royalty (and Alec would know because he read everything he could find) but they were unspeakably powerful, able to bend reality itself if they so chose.  So why would he be shopping here of all places?

Magnus smiled, warm and fond, “Well, I had hoped to find something, but none of this is really to my taste.”  He reached behind Alec, their bodies brushing just enough to send a jolt of electricity directly to his heart and pulled back a moment later, a deep green sweater in hand.  “You, however, would look delicious in this.  It would bring out your eyes.”  

Taking the sweater, Alec looked at it in confusion then looked back, shocked to see Magnus had all but vanished.  

“Alec, what do you have there?” Izzy asked, walking up a moment later.  She grabbed the sweater from his hand and smiled approvingly.  “This will look amazing on you.  That color will bring out your eyes.”  

He followed her to the changing rooms in a trance, still trying to figure out what happened.  The prince of Edom, a demon who owned his soul, just showed up to help him pick out a sweater?  And Alec once thought his life couldn’t get any stranger.  (But Magnus and Izzy were both right.  Alec did look good in the sweater, and he thought about Magnus every time he wore it.)

Another year passed before Alec saw Magnus again.  Clary Fairchild stumbled into their lives and nothing was the same.  Jace and he were arguing more than ever, Jace siding with Clary again and again.  Izzy made heart eyes whenever she looked at Clary or her mundane friend, accusing Alec of being biased against them both.  And Alec was left feeling abandoned by the two people he trusted most in the world.  

He knew better than to go out hunting without backup, but since his siblings couldn’t be bothered to show up on missions anymore, Alec went alone.  He knew he could handle a simple patrol.  There were a couple shax demons, though they were easily disposed of with just a quick shot from his bow.  Mostly, Alec walked around glamoured and enjoyed this feeling of being truly invisible as opposed to the way his family had been making him feel invisible at home.  In a city like New York, where people were out at all hours, being glamoured posed challenges and Alec ducked in and out of people’s ways to avoid running into them and freaking them out.  

One step into the street to get around a noisy crowd almost proved his end though.  Alec didn’t see the bus until it was too late and he braced himself for the impact but it never came.  Instead, a firm hand was wrapped around his bicep, pulling him back onto the sidewalk.  “Darling, I am anxious to spend time with you as well, but getting hit by a bus is not the way to do it,” Magnus laughed, looking Alec over to make sure he didn’t have any injuries.  “We’ll get to spend time together soon enough.”

Alec blinked, taking in the appearance of the demon.  His hair was styled into spikes, the tips colored hot pink.  He had a velvet jacket that begged to be touched but no shirt underneath as far as Alec could see.  His tight pants left nothing to the imagination and Alec had to take a few deep breaths so his own pants didn’t tighten in return.  “I didn’t?” Alec mumbled, not even sure he was replying to anything Magnus said. “I mean, I wasn’t trying to get hit but there were mundanes and...  Wait, how can you see me?”

Magnus dropped his glamour and grinned, “Eyes like these aren’t just good for seeing in the dark. Did you forget who I am?  Glamour doesn’t exactly work on me.”

He almost blurted out that he could never forget Magnus, he was too gorgeous to forget, but Alec caught himself at the last moment and mutely shook his head instead. Magnus reached out, cupping Alec’s cheek. “Please be careful, Alexander. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

A moment later he was gone and Alec was stuck looking at empty space once more, cheek still tingly from the warmth of Magnus’ touch.

Did that really happen?  Alec shook the fuzziness from his mind and activated his speed rune. The sooner he got back to the Institute, the better.  Because if the night got any stranger, Alec didn’t know if he could take it.  

They continued on like that for years and Alec, embarrassingly, didn’t even realize the pattern until Izzy pointed it out.  “You saw Magnus again, didn’t you?” she asked accusingly, hands on her hips when he came back from a mission covered in the blood of a demon that should have taken him out.  Instead, it exploded in front of him and Alec was left standing face to face with the Prince of Edom.  “Why do you think he keeps saving you?”

“Saving me?  He doesn’t...” But Magnus did keep saving him and Alec knew it.  Every single time Magnus appeared in Alec’s life since he signed his soul away, it had been right after a death-defying experience.  At this point, it could no longer be considered a coincidence.  Magnus was purposefully saving his life.

Izzy followed him to his office, closing the door so they could talk privately.  “Have you thought about how to get out of this deal?  There must be a way to ask him to release you.  It makes me uncomfortable to think he is saving your life when he literally owns it.  Maybe he needs you for something, or maybe he just thinks making you fret about it is funnier.  Whatever it is, I’ll keep looking.”  All these years and she’d never found anything to help him, Alec doubted she ever would.

The problem was, he didn’t know if he wanted to be released from this deal anymore.  He looked forward to those times when Magnus appeared.  Even if it meant he almost died, it also meant he got to spend time with someone who was kind and funny, sarcastic and intelligent.  If he wasn’t the ruler of a demonic realm, he would have been Alec’s idea of a perfect man. But even then, Magnus didn’t seem like a demon to Alec which only served to deepen his confusion.

Slowly, a plan formed in Alec’s mind.  One that was dangerous and stupid.  One that could just as easily get him killed as it could get him answers.  But Alec needed answers and this was the best way he knew how to do it.  “You know I love you, right Izzy?” he asked, smiling at her as if he wasn’t plotting something that might end up taking him away from her forever.

“Of course, big brother.”  Her smile was a little strained.  He could see the calculating look in her eye as she tried to figure out what brought that on.  

Pulling Izzy into a hug, he kissed the top of her head, “You just do so much for me and I want you to know I appreciate the work you do.”  Because he did.  But he also needed her to know how important she was to him, should his plan go terribly wrong.

“Alec, you literally sold your soul to save my life.  I think the balance in this relationship is firmly on your side.”  Alec knew she had a point, even if he didn’t see it that way.  This was Izzy they were talking about.  He would walk through hell and back for her.  Which he supposed might become literal if Magnus ever claimed what he owned.  Izzy tilted her head, looking at him with such genuine concern, Alec thought he might cry from the weight of it all.  “So stop worrying and go get some rest, big brother.”  Izzy gave him a quick hug, kissing him on the cheek.  “You work so hard you put the rest of us to shame.”  

“Actually, I was going to for a run.  Then, I will go to bed, I promise, okay?”

While Izzy looked liked she was going to argue, in the end, she nodded and headed back out to her lab to do some of the work she neglected while on missions.  Alec watched her go before heading to his room to change.  He did plan on going for a run.  He just didn’t know if he’d be coming back from it.

Twice now, Magnus saved him from being hit by a car.  While finding a demon might be a bit of a challenge, Alec could literally walk out of the Institute doors and find a car, which made it the easiest possible way to do this.  He needed to talk to Magnus and if he and Izzy were correct, the demon would show up the moment Alec’s life was in danger.  

He ran for several blocks, putting some distance between him and the Institute in case anyone was watching.  He didn’t relish explaining what he was doing to any Shadowhunter who happened to pass by at the wrong moment.  

Once certain there was no one around who would stop him before he got his answer, Alec waited until a taxi approached and then stepped out in front of it, a quick, deliberate step that left no doubt what he was trying to do.  “Alexander Gideon Lightwood just what do you think you are doing?” he heard as he was pulled back onto the sidewalk just in time.  “Do you have a death wish?  I can’t keep following you around all the time.  What if I wasn’t here?  Then what would have happened to you?”

“I assume I would have died,” he shrugged, turning around to face the furious cat-eyes of the Prince of Edom.  “I don’t know why you care.  Wouldn’t it be better for you if I died and then you could collect my soul and be done with it?”  Even as he said it, Alec realized the idea didn’t bother him.  He was a Shadowhunter.  He lived his whole life knowing that he would die young and probably painfully.  It didn’t matter to him as long as he did his job well and his family was safe.  “Please explain this Magnus because I don’t get it.”

The softness in Magnus’ eyes caught Alec off guard and he stared at the demon for several long moments before Magnus finally spoke.  “Because you deserve better than that, Alexander.  Because I would release you from your contract if I could.  I just can’t.  Any deal I make is unbreakable, even by me.  Because I have found over the past few years that you have one of the purest, most loving hearts I’ve ever seen and a small, selfish part of me wants even a small portion of that love to be directed at me.  Because the idea of you in Edom turns my stomach and I will do everything within my power to stop it from happening.”

Alec stared at him some more, blinking as he processed what Magnus said.  Somewhere along the line, Alec knew what it was he’d started to feel for this man who popped in and out of his life at the oddest of times.  If he was a mundane, he would think that everything he felt was because Magnus saved his life.  But it was more than that.  Because he didn’t care about his life.  He did care about seeing Magnus, however, and when he realized that, several other conclusions fell into place.  “I love you,” he blurted out, eyes going wide at his own admission.  “I don’t care if I have to live in Edom for all eternity, as long as I could be by your side.”  Alec would give up everything for this man, his very life if necessary.

“I love you too,” Magnus smiled, tears forming in his eyes.  “I don’t know how you could love me, though.  You know what I am.  You’ve seen me, actual me and not just the glamour I use out in public.  How can you look at me like this and tell me you love me?”

Alec frowned, not understanding.  “Because you are kind and funny, because you care about me, and because you are the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”  Why wouldn’t he want Magnus?  He was beautiful inside and out, something he never thought he could say about a demon.

Magnus’ brow furrowed and Alec ached to reach out to him, not wanting the demon to be upset over anything.  Seeming to settle on a conclusion, Magnus gave him a quick smile.  “I’m going to kiss you now, Alexander,” he murmured and that was the only warning Alec got before he found himself with an armful of Magnus.  

* * *

 

Over the years, many people claimed to have seen the Prince of Edom walking the halls of the New York Institute.  He would be there one moment, gone the next, vanishing in the blink of an eye.  It became a thing of legend for any Shadowhunter that transferred in.  Whether it was true or not was anyone’s guess, but they thought there might be some truth to the matter since whenever they spoke about it, the Head of Institute’s lips quirked just slightly.  

Alec Lightwood was a thing of a legend, as well.  He had a number of close calls but walked away from every mission without a scratch on him.  Everyone knew he was the best Shadowhunter of his generation but even the best messed up sometimes.  When Alec did, however, he was never the worse for it.  

The man never married and the Clave held him up as an example of someone more dedicated to the cause than most.  Sure, people bemoaned the fact that he never had children but his work did more for the Shadow World than just repopulating the race.

As he lay on his deathbed, age finally catching up with him where no mission ever could, his sister sat beside him, holding his hand, while the healers and others who had been close to him stood off to the side.  “You can go, Alec.  You’ve done so much for so many for so long.  It’s time to rest.  Go be with him and be happy.”  The people watching the exchange, glanced at each other in confusion, not knowing who she was talking about, even if it was clear Alec did.  

“I love you, Iz.  There’ll always be a place for you with us if you get bored of heaven,” he smiled at her, closing his eyes for a moment while he struggled to catch his breath.

Izzy laughed through her tears, “Say hi to him for me and tell him thanks.  For saving my life, and yours.”

“I will.”  Alec closed his eyes again, and a peace settled over his body.  Everyone knew he only had minutes left and several more tears started to fall.  With one last smile, Alec turned his head to the side, away from his sister.  “I’m ready now.”

Alec Lightwood took his last breath, his hand still wrapped in his sister’s and a beatific smile on his face.  The assembled crowd started to make preparations for his ceremony, moving around Isabelle who was smiling into the distance, even as the tears continued to stream down her cheeks.  

No one else could see them, only Isabelle whose love for both men transcended time and space.  Her brother, young and whole once more, wrapped in the arms of the man he’d loved for over fifty years.  “Come on, darling,” Magnus whispered, kissing Alec’s lips.  “Let’s go home.”

Home, where Alec Lightwood poster child for the Clave, would rule over hell with the love of his eternal life, the Prince of Edom, Magnus Bane.

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on tumblr at [brooklynxmagic](http://brooklynxmagic.tumblr.com) or [astudyinfic](http://astudyinfic.tumblr.com)


End file.
